The latest list of largest staffing firms in the United States from Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) is more than just a chart of the most successful, widest-ranging recruitment companies. It’s also an economic indicator, and a valuable snapshot of larger healthcare staffing industry trends. As such, it’s worthwhile to take a closer look at the SIA list, and what it represents for the healthcare industry.
Healthcare Staffing Industry Trends: Why the SIA List Matters
Closely watched by economic analysts, the SIA List of Largest Staffing Firms in the United States charts the growth of the nation’s biggest staffing and recruitment firms. In 2021, that meant a total of 186 companies, each generating $100 million or more over the past year.
The list offers valuable insights into how employers are relying more on contingent labor like temporary staffing and independent contracting to meet their workforce needs — a trend that’s affecting a large section of the American economy, and not just healthcare. But especially since Covid-19 struck, it’s been one of the most impactful trends in healthcare, affecting some facility’s very existence.
Since the pandemic, the use of temporary and contingency workers in healthcare facilities has grown at a dizzying pace. In 2020, overall travel nursing increased by 35%, according to reporting from Health Affairs. That same report predicts future growth at around 40%.
The staffing and recruitment industry has been growing to meet that demand. And of all the healthcare staffing industry trends that employers should be following in 2022, this may also be the most challenging. With so many firms available, it can be difficult to cut through the weeds and find a partner who can truly follow through and deliver qualified clinicians when and where they’re needed.
The SIA list could help employers meet that challenge. Documenting the best-established companies on a yearly basis helps show just what firms have the nationwide footprint truly necessary to deliver effective contingency staffing services. It’s also a valuable indicator of a company’s financial viability, and therefore, its potential to serve as a reliable, long-term partner.
Healthcare Staffing Industry Trends: CareerStaff Makes the SIA List
To that end, the team at CareerStaff Unlimited was proud to recently announce that we’d landed on the SIA’s primary list of the Largest US Staffing Firms 2021. On top of that, we’ve also been named to two other lists: the Largest Travel Nurse Staffing Firms in the US 2021 and the Largest Per Diem Nurse Staffing Firms in the US 2021.
As a longstanding provider of contingency staffing services, our inclusion on the travel and per diem nursing lists is particularly good news. We’ve long been an industry leader in temporary and travel staffing and recruitment, offering a nationwide foundation for employers to find the travel nurses and clinicians that best meet their specific goals and operational needs.
During Covid-19, that job has become more important — and more challenging — than ever before. Staffing shortages are hitting virtually every part of the United States, leaving leaders scrambling to find new sources of essential workers. Our presence on the SIA lists is validation that we’re helping to get that important job done effectively.
Staffing companies aren’t the only ones learning from the pandemic, either. Time and again, the nurses and clinicians in our Clinicians of the Month feature tell us about how their work experience has been transformed in the past couple of years. And, while each of those experiences involves coping with difficult situations, there’s also a tendency to find growth and inspiration on the other side, too.
“The day-to-day life is nothing like it was just a couple of years ago,” as Brian, one of our CareerStaff Clinicians of the Month for February, 2021, told us. “The current pandemic has upended what we do on a daily basis. The healthcare field right now can be very stressful, but is still just as rewarding for those involved.”
At every level, the healthcare industry has faced with similar lessons about coping and learning to adapt to difficult conditions. In one of the more encouraging of the healthcare staffing industry trends revealed by the SIA 2021 list, the response has been getting better and better.
“Compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the staffing industry in 2022 is more resilient, more automated, more efficient, more empathetic and, thankfully, facing more demand,” writes John Nurthen, Executive Director of Global Research for SIA. “This should be a good year.”
We Can Help You Navigate Today’s Healthcare Staffing Industry Trends
Looking for some help navigating the current wave of healthcare staffing industry trends? You can trust CareerStaff to provide the guidance, resources and solutions to help meet your goals and make sure you have the workers you need, when you need them. Contact us today to discover how we can put our expertise to work for your organization.